Joshua

And Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem, and called for the elders of Israel, and for their heads, and for their judges, and for their officers; and they presented themselves before God.

1Joshua called all the families of Israel to a town called Shechem. He called the leaders, the judges, and the officers to come too. They all came and stood together before God.

2And Joshua said unto all the people, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Your fathers dwelt on the other side of the flood in old time, even Terah, the father of Abraham, and the father of Nachor: and they served other gods.

2Joshua said to everyone, "Here is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says. Long ago your family lived on the far side of the big river. Terah lived there. He was the father of Abraham and Nahor. They all worshiped other gods.

Note"The other side of the flood" does not mean a flood of water. It means the far side of a big river, the Euphrates.

3And I took your father Abraham from the other side of the flood, and led him throughout all the land of Canaan, and multiplied his seed, and gave him Isaac.

3"But I took your father Abraham from that land far away. I led him all through the land of Canaan. I gave him many children and grandchildren. I gave him his son Isaac.

4And I gave unto Isaac Jacob and Esau: and I gave unto Esau mount Seir, to possess it; but Jacob and his children went down into Egypt.

4"To Isaac I gave two sons, Jacob and Esau. I gave Esau the hill country called Seir to live in. But Jacob and his sons went down to Egypt.

5I sent Moses also and Aaron, and I plagued Egypt, according to that which I did among them: and afterward I brought you out.

5"Then I sent Moses and Aaron to help you. I sent terrible troubles on Egypt. After that, I brought you out of Egypt.

6And I brought your fathers out of Egypt: and ye came unto the sea; and the Egyptians pursued after your fathers with chariots and horsemen unto the Red sea.

6"I brought your family out of Egypt. You came to the sea. The Egyptians chased them with war carts and men on horses.

7And when they cried unto the LORD, he put darkness between you and the Egyptians, and brought the sea upon them, and covered them; and your eyes have seen what I have done in Egypt: and ye dwelt in the wilderness a long season.

7"Your family called out to the LORD for help. He put darkness between you and the Egyptians. Then he brought the sea over the Egyptians and covered them. You saw with your own eyes what I did in Egypt. After that you lived in the empty desert for a long time.

8And I brought you into the land of the Amorites, which dwelt on the other side Jordan; and they fought with you: and I gave them into your hand, that ye might possess their land; and I destroyed them from before you.

8"Then I brought you to the land of the Amorites, east of the Jordan River. They fought against you. But I handed them over to you, so the land became yours. I wiped them out ahead of you.

9Then Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, arose and warred against Israel, and sent and called Balaam the son of Beor to curse you:

9"Then Balak, the son of Zippor, went to war against Israel. He was the king of Moab. He sent for a man named Balaam and asked him to curse you.

10But I would not hearken unto Balaam; therefore he blessed you still: so I delivered you out of his hand.

10"But I would not listen to Balaam. So instead he kept blessing you. That is how I kept you safe from Balak.

11And ye went over Jordan, and came unto Jericho: and the men of Jericho fought against you, the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Girgashites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites; and I delivered them into your hand.

11"You crossed the Jordan River and came to the city of Jericho. The men of Jericho fought against you. So did the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, and the Hittites. So did the Girgashites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. I handed them all over to you.

12And I sent the hornet before you, which drave them out from before you, even the two kings of the Amorites; but not with thy sword, nor with thy bow.

12"I sent the hornet ahead of you. It drove out the two Amorite kings before you came. You did not win that with your own sword or bow.

Note"The hornet" is what the text says. People have long wondered whether it means real insects or a kind of panic God sent. The text does not explain it.

13And I have given you a land for which ye did not labour, and cities which ye built not, and ye dwell in them; of the vineyards and oliveyards which ye planted not do ye eat.

13"I gave you land you did not work for. I gave you towns you did not build, and you live in them. You eat grapes and olives from trees you did not plant."

14Now therefore fear the LORD, and serve him in sincerity and in truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt; and serve ye the LORD.

14Joshua said, "So honor the LORD and obey him. Serve him with a true and honest heart. Throw away the gods your family served across the river and in Egypt. Serve the LORD instead.

15And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.

15"Maybe you do not want to serve the LORD. Then choose today who you will serve. Will it be the gods your family served across the river? Will it be the gods of the Amorites, whose land you live in? But my family and I will serve the LORD."

16And the people answered and said, God forbid that we should forsake the LORD, to serve other gods;

16The people answered, "We would never leave the LORD to serve other gods!

17For the LORD our God, he it is that brought us up and our fathers out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage, and which did those great signs in our sight, and preserved us in all the way wherein we went, and among all the people through whom we passed:

17"The LORD our God brought us and our parents out of Egypt. We were slaves there, and he set us free. He did great and powerful things while we watched. He kept us safe everywhere we went. He kept us safe among all the peoples we passed by.

18And the LORD drave out from before us all the people, even the Amorites which dwelt in the land: therefore will we also serve the LORD; for he is our God.

18"The LORD drove out all those peoples ahead of us. He drove out the Amorites who lived in this land. So we will serve the LORD too. He is our God!"

19And Joshua said unto the people, Ye cannot serve the LORD: for he is an holy God; he is a jealous God; he will not forgive your transgressions nor your sins.

19Joshua said to the people, "You are not able to serve the LORD. He is a holy God. He is a jealous God. He will not forgive you if you turn against him and keep doing wrong.

Note"Jealous" here does not mean unkind. It means God wants his people to belong to him alone and not to other gods.

20If ye forsake the LORD, and serve strange gods, then he will turn and do you hurt, and consume you, after that he hath done you good.

20"He has been good to you. But if you leave the LORD and serve other gods, he will turn against you. He will bring trouble on you and wipe you out."

21And the people said unto Joshua, Nay; but we will serve the LORD.

21The people said to Joshua, "No! We will serve the LORD!"

22And Joshua said unto the people, Ye are witnesses against yourselves that ye have chosen you the LORD, to serve him. And they said, We are witnesses.

22Joshua said, "You have chosen to serve the LORD. You yourselves have said so, and that counts against you if you stop." They said, "Yes, we said it."

23Now therefore put away, said he, the strange gods which are among you, and incline your heart unto the LORD God of Israel.

23Joshua said, "Then throw away the other gods you still have. Turn your hearts to the LORD, the God of Israel."

24And the people said unto Joshua, The LORD our God will we serve, and his voice will we obey.

24The people said to Joshua, "We will serve the LORD our God. We will obey what he says."

25So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, and set them a statute and an ordinance in Shechem.

25So that day Joshua made an agreement with the people. There at Shechem he gave them rules to live by.

26And Joshua wrote these words in the book of the law of God, and took a great stone, and set it up there under an oak, that was by the sanctuary of the LORD.

26Joshua wrote these words in the Book of God's Law. Then he took a big stone and set it up under an oak tree. The tree stood near the holy place of the LORD.

27And Joshua said unto all the people, Behold, this stone shall be a witness unto us; for it hath heard all the words of the LORD which he spake unto us: it shall be therefore a witness unto you, lest ye deny your God.

27Joshua said to everyone, "Look at this stone. It will be a reminder of what we said. It has heard every word the LORD spoke to us. It will speak against you if you ever say you do not know God."

28So Joshua let the people depart, every man unto his inheritance.

28Then Joshua sent the people home. Each one went back to his own land.

29And it came to pass after these things, that Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died, being an hundred and ten years old.

29After all this, Joshua the son of Nun died. He had served the LORD his whole life. He was 110 years old.

30And they buried him in the border of his inheritance in Timnathserah, which is in mount Ephraim, on the north side of the hill of Gaash.

30They buried him on his own land at Timnath-serah. That is in the hill country of Ephraim. It is north of the hill called Gaash.

31And Israel served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that overlived Joshua, and which had known all the works of the LORD, that he had done for Israel.

31Israel served the LORD as long as Joshua lived. They served him as long as the older leaders lived who outlived Joshua. Those leaders had seen everything the LORD did for Israel.

32And the bones of Joseph, which the children of Israel brought up out of Egypt, buried they in Shechem, in a parcel of ground which Jacob bought of the sons of Hamor the father of Shechem for an hundred pieces of silver: and it became the inheritance of the children of Joseph.

32The people of Israel had carried Joseph's bones out of Egypt. They buried them at Shechem, in a piece of ground Jacob had bought. Jacob bought it from the sons of Hamor, Shechem's father, for a hundred pieces of silver. That land became the land of Joseph's family.

33And Eleazar the son of Aaron died; and they buried him in a hill that pertained to Phinehas his son, which was given him in mount Ephraim.

33Eleazar, the son of Aaron, also died. They buried him on a hill in the country of Ephraim. That hill had been given to his son Phinehas.